7/18/2020 0:00:00
First, the Syriac sources
For anyone who wants to view these sources
The story of the People of the Cave – Christian sources https://sun2son.blogspot.com/2019/01/blog-post_6.html
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What is the nature of these texts that mentioned the story?
The story of the Companions of the Cave was mentioned in Syriac Christian sources in two types of texts: prose and poetry, historical texts and poetic literary texts, and it was mentioned in only three documents.
– The first text… is the poetic text of the story of the People of the Cave. It is by the Syriac poet Mar Yacoub Al-Suruji (521 +), who composed a poem in the twelve-meter meter, consisting of seventy-four lines, in which he mentioned the story of the Companions of the Cave, even though he allowed his thought to swim in imagination. , but it retained the main story elements.
Yaacoub Al-Suruji was born in the village of (Qurtum) on the bank of the Euphrates in the year 451 AD. He studied theology, philosophy, and linguistic sciences in the Edessa School. He became a monk, became a hermit, and was ordained a priest. He moved to his Allah in the year 521 AD, and the church celebrated his feast.
It was based on the Twelver Sea, which he devised and was known as the Surji Sea after him. His poems were collected and amounted to seven hundred and sixty, some of which may have verses of two or three thousand or more. It dealt with the most important events of the Holy Bible, faith, virtues, resurrection, repentance, renunciation of the world, and veneration of the saints. His prose works include letters and sermons for holidays. It has interpretations, all of which are created with a solid verse.
The second historical source that mentions the story is Zakaria al-Fasih (536+).
Zakaria Al-Fasih is a historian who studied grammar, rhetoric, jurisprudence, and philosophy. He practiced law, then became a bishop. His most important work is a religious and civil history that he wrote in Greek, in which he discussed in detail the events of the period that occurred between the years 450 and 491. It was translated into Syriac as a summary, and its Greek original was lost and then it was transferred. In its entirety, the monk is the author of the book that transformed the History of Zakaria into his valuable historical collection, which he wrote in Syriac in the year 569 AD.
This means that the true date of mention of the story in the source of Zakaria the Eloquent is 569 AD and not 536 AD, because the entire history of Zakaria the Eloquent written in the Greek language has been lost, and then we cannot rely on that date, but rather we will rely on the date of the one who transmitted it in the year 569 AD.
– The third Syriac historical source that mentions the story is John of Ephesus in the year (587+)
John of Ephesus was born around the year 507 in the town of Akal in the province of Amed. He became a monk during his youth, delved into the sciences of the Bible, mastered the Syriac and Greek languages, and was ordained bishop of Ephesus (where the story of the Companions of the Cave took place) in the year 558 AD. To it and to Asia Minor, and he died around the year 586 AD or 587 AD. Among the epithets that were given to him was “the author of the histories of the pledge of allegiance.”
Patriarch Ephrem I Barsoum said about it: “John compiled an ecclesiastical history in three volumes, each of which contains six books or chapters. The first and second are from the era of Julius Caesar until the year 571, and the third includes news of the church and the world from the year 571 to 585 and is 418 pages long. The first volume is missing, and the second volume was almost entirely transferred to the history written by the monk Al-Zoqanini in 775 AD. As for the third, it has reached us, and a few chapters have been omitted from it… John was a historian, honest, investigative, and diligent, appreciating events from the Orthodox point of view, but he was honest.
This means that the text of John of Ephesus, which mentioned the story of the Companions of the Cave, appeared in the year 775 AD and not in the year 585 AD.
Zakaria the Eloquent and John the Ephesian are considered trustworthy historians of the Syriac Church, and they are close to the time of the incident.
Now let us arrange the history of the texts according to Roman time:
A poetic text by Maryam Yacoub Al-Sarouji…. 521 AD
Historical text by Zakaria the Eloquent………….. 569 AD
Historical text of John of Ephesus ………… 775 AD
This means that the first text that mentioned the story of the Companions of the Cave was a Syriac poetic text and not a historical text. That is, the poetic text was the first text to mention the story of the Companions of the Cave in the year 521 AD.
All of these Syriac texts talk about one story in the city of Ephesus and about a king named Decius.
So, the Syriac texts that mentioned the story of the Companions of the Cave are historical and poetic texts.
The real historical text that mentioned the story is Zakaria the Eloquent in the year 569 AD, not 536 AD……… Because the history of Zakaria the Eloquent, written in the Greek language, has been completely lost, and then we cannot rely on that date, but rather we will rely on the history of the one who rose. He transferred it in the year 569 AD.
As for the history of John of Ephesus, there is a difference in the year of the text, either 585 AD or 587 AD, but because its date was lost and it was transmitted by the monk Al-Zoqanini in the year 775 AD, therefore we will adopt the year 775 AD and not the year 585 AD or 587 AD as the date for the appearance of this text.
Therefore, the history of the texts according to Roman times:
1 – A poetic text by Maryam Yacoub Al-Sarouji…. 521 AD
2 – A historical text by Zakaria the Eloquent………….. 569 AD
3 – A historical text by John of Ephesus……….. 775 AD
4 – Historical text by Ibn al-Abri…………… 1286 AD
■ The time of the story of the Companions of the Cave
All Syriac texts agreed that the time of the story was during the reign of King Decius and their awakening during the reign of King Theodosius.
We will cut from the official source of the church
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All Syriac historians agree that the people of the cave fell asleep during the reign of King Decius (249-251 AD), while their awakening occurred during the reign of King Theodosius the Younger (450).
Mar Yaacoub Al-Suruji (521 +) says in his aforementioned poem about the time of their slumber, which is translated: “When Decius went out to visit the villages and cities of his kingdom, he entered Ephesus, inflicted great terror on it, and held a celebration for Zeus, Apollon, and Artemis… There were young nobles who refused to submit to his command. They did not submit to him like the rest of their companions, and they brought faith, as they were meek sheep, and insisted on not burning incense before the gods.”
He says about the time of their awakening: “The eras of the pagan kings passed and their authority disappeared, and peace prevailed in the Holy Church in the world. And the Allah wished to awaken them to the glory of (His Holy Name) and reveal them to the believers to honor them.” He added: “They took the two tablets of lead and read them, and from them they learned their names and their work, so they immediately informed the great king Theodosius so that he would come immediately and see them.”
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1 – A poetic text by Al-Suruji 521 AD (Dacius – Theodosius)
2 – Historical text of Al-Fasih.. 569 AD (Dacius – Theodosius)
3 – Historical text of the Ephesians 775 AD (Dacius – Theodosius)
4 – Historical text of Hebrew. 1286 AD (Dacius – Theodosius)
But all texts do not mention a calendar, as they are based only on the time when the Roman kings ascended to the throne of the empire.
■ What is the miracle of the Companions of the Cave?
They slept in a cave for decades
■ How long did the Companions of the Cave sleep?
Syriac sources place the time of the incident during the reign of the Roman Emperor Decius and its awakening during the reign of Theodosius.
But the Syriac texts did not agree among themselves on determining the period during which the People of the Cave slept. The first sources specify the period at 370 years, and others specify the period at 190 years, some 120 years, and some 188 years.
But it stated that their sleep was during the reign of Decius (249-251) and that their awakening was during the reign of Theodosius the Younger (408-450). According to official sources, the difference in years resulted from the difference in the date of minting of the coins that were found with the boys in the cave, in their various denominations.
1 – A poetic text by Maryam Al-Suruji 521 AD (370 years old)
2 – Historical text of Al-Fasih… 569 AD (120 or 190 years)
3 – Historical text of the Ephesians 775 AD (370 years)
4 – Historical Hebrew text 1286 AD (188 years)
First, look at the eloquent history of Zakaria. It does not specify the existence of an applicable calendar, but rather makes it clear that the event occurred after 38 of the reign of Theodosius.
But a later investigator and historian determined the year of his accession to the king as 408 AD. There is no chronological calendar in the eloquent history of Zakaria, but the calendar came after this date and story.
Also see… Zakaria says: “The governor answered Dionysius (one of the cave boys) saying: How can we believe your words, when the writing and seal of this coin go back two hundred years ago?”
See… How did the governor determine the period of the coin as dating back 200 years? How did the governor know that it was 200 years ago?! This indicates that the coin has a calendar, but there is no mention in these texts of the existence of a calendar. It was usual. The governor’s determination of the age of the coin indicates that there is a chronological calendar on the coin, and then historians and investigators do not need all this difficult process in determining the time of the youth incident and even the duration of the youth’s sleep, based on the time difference between Theodosius and Decius.
This means………..the story specified the time in the time of two kings only, but the process of determining a date for it took place outside the story at a later time and was not determined by the story itself, meaning that the time was determined by investigators or historians later on and imposed on the story.
With evidence
1 – Text of Al-Suruji 521 AD (Dacius – Theodosius) (370)
2 – Text of Al-Fasih.. 569 AD (Dacius – Theodosius) (120-190)
3 – Text of the Ephesians 775 AD (Dacius – Theodosius) (370)
4- Hebrew text. 1286 AD (Dacius – Theodosius) (188)
– The first Syriac text by Al-Suruji talks about the Companions of the Cave, specifying the time period between the two kings as 370 years. (Because that is the period of sleep of the People of the Cave)
If Decius was in the year 250 AD, this means that Theodosius would be in the year 620 AD, while the text of Maryam of Seruji was written in the year 521 AD?!
Is it possible that a text written in the year 521 AD talks about an incident that occurred in the year 620 AD?! The difference is 100 years…then we will have two possibilities. As for the date of Maryam’s text, it is wrong, and this means that the process of setting a date The story and history of this text are at a late stage, meaning that the calendar was drawn up at a very later stage, and either this incident is not true.
If Theodosius was in the year 450 AD, this means that the time of Decius was in the year 80 AD. This does not agree with the plan of the kings of Rome, as there was no king in the year 80 AD with the name Decius
– The classical text specifies the period of time between the two kings as 120 years, but the text’s author fixed the period to 190 years.
If Decius was in the year 250 AD, this means that Theodosius will be in the year 370 AD, and after the reform of the investigator in 440 AD.
If Theodosius was in the year 447 AD, this means that the time of Decius was in the year 327 AD or in the year 257 AD.
– The third source, which is from the Ephesians, sets the time period between the two kings at 370 years.
If Decius was in the year 250 AD, this means that Theodosius would be in the year 620 AD, while the text of the Ephesus was written in the year 587 AD.
Is it possible that a text written in the year 587 AD talks about an incident that occurred in the year 620 AD?! Then we will have two possibilities: either the date of the Ephesian text is wrong, or this incident is not true.
If Theodosius was in the year 450 AD, this means that the time of Decius was in the year 80 AD. This does not agree with the plan of the kings of Rome, as there was no king in the year 80 AD with the name of Decius.
– As for the Hebrew, the period of time between the two kings is 188 years.
If Decius was in the year 250 AD, this means that Theodosius would be in the year 438 AD.
If Theodosius was in the year 447 AD, this means that the time of Decius was in the year 259 AD.
1 – Text of Al-Suruji 521 AD
(Dacius – Theodosius) (370)
(250m – 620m) or (80m – 450m)
2 – Nas al-Fusih (536 AD) 569 AD
(Dacius – Theodosius) (120-190)
(250m – 370m) or (250m – 440m)
(327 AD – 447 AD) – (257 AD – 447 AD)
3 – Text of the Ephesians (585-587 AD) 775 AD
(Dacius – Theodosius) (370)
(250m – 620m) or (80m – 450m)
4 – Hebrew text 1286 AD
(Dacius – Theodosius) (188)
(250 AD – 438 AD) – (259 AD – 447 AD)
Now notice with me the reasons for the appearance of the period (188) in the Hebrew, and the period 370 in the investigator of the history of the Ephesians, who is the monk Al-Zoqanini.
History of the Ephesus text (585-587 AD), but the one who brought us the Ephesus texts was the monk Al-Zoqanini in the year 775.
Let’s do the math
775 subtract 585 equals 190
775 subtract 587 equals 188
The Hebrew did this calculation of the period on the basis of calculating a time between the Ephesian text, which is the first source, and the Zognani monk, who transmitted his lost history, did this calculation between his text and the time of the monk, which is the first appearance of the text. She is 188 years old.
As for the man who conveyed to us the history of al-Fusih, he encountered a problem between a previous text that said the period of sleep was 370, and this period made him confused, so he set the period of sleep as 370 as the year of the king’s history, and then after a period of determining the time of the kings, the time calculation between the two kings would be 120 years. Then he would have gotten rid of the problem of 370 years.
Because it is impossible for the first text to mention the duration of sleep to be 370 years and the second text to specify the duration to be 120 years, and the age difference between the two texts is about 12 years, the problem was fixed so that it would not conflict with the eloquent text of Zakaria, who spoke of 200 years being the duration of the sleep of the Companions of the Cave. But based on the calculation between the history of the Ephesian and the transmitter of the monk’s history. So fix the period to 190 years.
This means that the historian who transmitted to us the eloquent history of Zakaria and wrote it in the year 563 AD, lived in a time after the time of the Zoqanini monk in the year 775 AD, meaning that he did not live in the year 563 AD.
In other words… these differences about duration and about the accession of kings confirm that there was a process of setting a chronological calendar and writing it down later on the story, and the process of determining a historical age for it took place at a very late time. And almost after the time of the history of the Zoqanini monk.
If we also pay attention to the date of birth of the authors of these sources, we will find that they are similar.
Al-Suruji, the author of the first text of the Companions of the Cave, was born in 451 AD and died in 521 AD. That is, he was born in approximately the same year that the Companions of the Cave woke up, and in the same year that King Theodosius existed. But the strange thing is that it took him 70 years to talk about this miraculous story, and in the same year of his death.
His birth in the same time as the Companions of the Cave makes us believe that he is the most informed source about the incident, since his surroundings are still talking about the story of the famous and modern miracle.
As for Zakaria the Eloquent, his most important work is a religious history that he wrote in Greek, in which he covered in detail the events of the period that occurred between the years 450 and 491. It was translated into Syriac in summary, and its Greek original was lost. Then it was transmitted in its entirety by the monk who wrote the apocryphal book The History of Zakaria.
Zakaria the Eloquent decided to write his first historical works, and he did not choose a historical period except from 450 AD – 491 AD, that is, his history begins from the year of the awakening of the Boy of the Cave and from the era of King Theodosius as well. Although his history of the story of the Companions of the Cave does not address the calendar, how did he determine his date for this period based on a calendar?
As for John of Ephesus, he wrote an ecclesiastical history in three volumes, each of which contains six books or chapters. The first and second are from the reign of Julius Caesar until the year 571, and the third includes news of the church and the world from the year 571 to 585 and is 418 pages long.
Notice to 450 AD the beginning of the history of Zakaria the Eloquent, and to 571 AD the beginning of the history of John of Ephesus. How much difference do you find between them?!
Approximately 120 years, which is the period of sleep of the Companions of the Cave according to some sayings.
■ How many Companions of the Cave were there?
Syriac sources did not agree on the number of boys. Some sources say that they were 7 boys, and some sources say that they were 8 boys.
Likewise, the names of the boys were not agreed upon in the Syriac sources. The first sources mention specific names, and other sources after that differ from the first sources by one name and two names, and others mention names different from the first and subsequent sources, and the reason, according to the church, is because of the Greek environment, and their names. Greek, so the Syriac scribes listed them and distorted some of them.
1 – Text of Al-Suruji 521 AD (it is not specified, but it names two)
2 – Nas al-Fasih.. 569 AD (7 boys)
3 – Nas al-Zuqanini 775 AD (8 boys)
4- Hebrew text. 1286 AD (7 boys)
■ Why did the boys run away to the cave?
According to Syriac sources, the boys believed in Christianity and in Jesus as Savior. Al-Nasarah were persecuted by a pagan Roman king. He issued a decree ordering the eradication of Christianity, and made the central authority in the state take it upon itself to force Al-Nasarah to abandon their religion and offer incense and liquor to the Roman gods. The decree was issued, which It was described as terrifying and terrifying, with Al-Nasarah being tortured if they did not worship idols. The boys refused to worship idols, so they fled with their religion to the cave.
■ Where did the people of the cave lie?
All Syriac sources confirm that the people of the cave rested in a cave located on a hill called Mount Ankilos on the outskirts of the city of Ephesus.
This city of Ephesus is an ancient Greek city located on the western shore of Asia Minor. It was famous before Christ for its port, its profitable trade, and the Temple of Artemis. The Apostle Paul preached the Christian religion to it in the year 54 AD, educated its people, and wrote a letter to it in the year 61 AD. The city later became one of the important centers of Christianity, and the Third Ecumenical Council was held there in the year 431 AD.
Mar Yacoub al-Suruji (521 +) said at the beginning of his poem about the People of the Cave, which I translated: “I would like to tell the listeners the news of the young men, sons of the leaders who are from Ephesus.” He said, through one of the young men, addressing his companions: “There is a rocky cave here at the top of the mountain. Let us go up, brothers, and hide in it for a while.” He also said, through Yamlikha, while addressing the bishop of the city: “I am from the city of Ephesus, and I am the son of Drophorus, one of its leaders.” He also said about the tablet. “On it they wrote: These young men from Ephesus fled before the face of Decius.”
Notice…how the first text of the story of the Companions of the Cave is a poetic text, and how the boys introduce themselves in it, specify their location to us in advance, and specify to us the name of the king as well.
Of course, it is a poetic text that attempts to represent the story in a poetic language, and it should not be criticized as a historical document. But….we adopted it because it is approved by the owners of the main source as a historical document.
■ The boys’ first job after waking up
The Syriac texts say that one of the young men went as usual in the morning and went shopping from the market with silver coins in his hand, but he was confused and afraid of going crazy because of the change that had occurred. He found the sign of the cross carved and people swearing in the name of Jesus Christ.
■ Who exposed the matter of the Companions of the Cave and what was the thing that revealed their secret?
The baker to whom one of the young men went to buy bread from him. The baker was astonished by the coins that the boy gave him, because they were large in size and their minting was different from the stamp of the dirhams circulating in their era. The baker believed that the boy had obtained an ancient treasure, so they arrested him and he confessed before the bishop of the city. And tell them the truth.
■ What did they find in the cave?
When the boy went, accompanied by the governor and a crowd of people, and they reached the cave, they found on the right side of its door a brass box with two silver seals on it, and inside the box, two lead tablets on which was written, “He has fled into this cave from the presence of King Decius. The confessors: Maximilian, son of the governor, Imlich, Martinian, Dionysius, John, Seraphion, Constantius, and Antoninus. He blocked the cave for them with stones.” He also wrote in the last lines of the two tablets a picture of the faith of the confessors.
This box was placed by two Christian servants of King Decius, who hid their faith for fear of the king. They consulted together and wrote a picture of the faith of these confessors on lead sheets, which were placed inside a copper box, sealed, and placed in the structure at the entrance to the cave.
■ Reaction when the truth is discovered
Make these boys a holiday. The king distributed alms to the poor, released the bishops captured in exile, and returned with the bishops to Constantinople, overwhelmed with the joy of the king’s faith, glorifying Allah Almighty for everything that had happened.
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These differences confirm that the subject was not objective history as much as it was copies from various other sources, and this is what the main source says, that the Greek environment and their Greek names are the reason for the distortion of the names and the difference in numbers.
This makes us ask the question: Is it correct that we consider the Syriac sources to be the first sources to mention the story? It is supposed to say that the Greek sources are the first sources to the story.
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■ If we look at the Syriac sources, we will find that the first feeling that we feel when reading the story is a literary one rather than a religious one, and the official sources speak of this feeling at the beginning before mentioning the story. It speaks about the fact that Syriac literature is full of interesting stories, whether they are Was it placed in Syriac or was it transferred to it?
As is clear, the story was mentioned in prose and poetry in Syriac sources, and this makes you feel that there was more literary celebration in the subject than religious celebration or celebration of the truth.
Sources for the story in Syriac texts. We will find that most of them were written by church historians, linked to the church. But you find that there is a difference in the information about the incident…..and here you are surprised. If the incident occurred in front of the church, then it is supposed to have only one official historical documentation, and no two people disagree about it.
■ The sources open up to the reader about the increase that occurred in this story by those who went too far in imagination, so it swam in the atmosphere of imagination, and turned it into legends, and the official source speaks that the investigator and the auditor can separate the real from the legendary. This means that the story mentioned in the official Syriac sources has become real and realistic and has been purified of myths.
■ If we read the story from beginning to end, we will find that there is great care and controversy in mentioning the names. The names of the boys are arranged beautifully and harmoniously, even the name of the dog, and even in the names of places, villages, cities, the name of the mountain and the cave, even in the name of the sheep shepherd. And in the names of the king’s servants. There is great attention to detail and you feel like you are inside the story.
However, there is no evidence for this extreme care in reality, as there is no extreme care on the part of the Church regarding reality regarding the issue of the location of the cave. The Church is supposed to know the cave to this day, and is certain of it, and next to the cave there is a witness to this day, but the strange thing is that there is none.
Let us say that today we do not know of a tomb or shrine for Christ, but is it possible that the Companions of the Cave, who rose 250 years later at a time when the Church was thriving and Christianity was consolidated after Rome converted to Christianity, did not have evidence from that time? Is it possible that the Church was able to preserve these books? The one who mentioned the story was close to contemporary with the incident, but she was unable to preserve the location of the cave, nor did she build a church or even a gravestone next to the cave or in the city.
■ You will find the story talking about a Roman ruler who persecuted Al-Nasarah. Of course, this idea seems illogical to me, because persecution requires the presence of a non-Christian entity to carry out the operation. This obliges us to search for an entity to play the role, and the Romans will be the ones who carried out the persecution before converting to Christianity. But the strange thing is that all the churches are linked to the mother churches of Rome. In short, Christianity has its origins in Rome and not anywhere else. Of course, this is if we are not convinced by the accepted narrative of history.
But let us assume this: Where was the whole world before the Romans? Who lived in the region so that the Romans could have this power? Were the people unable to fight these Romans? Were the people powerless and unable to fight? The story depicts the Syriacs as saying that there was surrender. And submission to the authority of the Romans in all evil and good, and even submission to any action without any resistance. Then why do the Romans persecute Al-Nasarah? Is it because they are pagans? What is the problem ?
In short, there is no convincing and logical reason for persecution.
■ Of course, we cannot criticize a text that was found in this way, because the text is responsible for itself and we cannot impose on it whether it was or was not, but on the assumption that the incident was true and with the same details that were recorded in the texts, if we look at the story we will find that there was extreme care. To mention certain details despite their lack of importance in the context of the incident, and to be surprised about the reason, and there was a necessity that could not be fulfilled except by mentioning them and emphasizing them.
Note with me this text:
“When the king blocked the door of the cave with stones, two of the king’s servants, who had hidden their faith for fear of him, consulted together and wrote down a picture of the faith of these confessors on lead sheets, which were placed inside a copper box, sealed, and placed in the structure at the entrance to the cave.”
Weird, strange, and completely illogical
Look at the strange and wondrous behavior of the two servants, who hid their faith from the king. They carried out a strange behavior by writing the names of these boys and their pictures of faith, placing them inside a box, and placing it at the entrance to the cave. They never thought about saving the boys from the cave…. They just put their names and pictures and left. Their strong faith, which made them interested in the boys, prevented them from even trying to save the boys.
But the point is completely illogical. It is assumed that the first thought they think of is to rescue the boys and take them out of the cave, but the two servants are busy writing the names of the boys and pictures of their confessions of faith, and put them in a box at the entrance to the cave.
Illogical behavior….. The reason… is because they were aware that a miracle would happen… They knew about the miracle before it happened. It was not them, but the writer of the story exposing himself himself, because the writer was aware that a miracle would happen to the boys, and the writer made it The two servants play a pre-prepared role. They know in advance that a miracle will happen and they have prepared with documents that are consistent with the occurrence of the miracle….. without the writer noticing.
The two servants knew in advance that the miracle would happen, and this is illogical, and this means that we are faced with two possibilities: either the story is a myth in its origins, or the writer of the story knew in advance about a story similar to it, but he made a mistake while writing the story and reformulating it from his imagination. .. but why ? If the story was a matter of literature and narration, I think there is no problem, but as long as the story is linked to faith, I think that the issue has a problem, because we will be facing the destruction of faith.
Also note
When they uncovered the door of the cave and opened the box, they found their names and a picture of the confession of faith. They entered the cave and saw the confessors sitting majestically, their faces shining like fresh roses. They spoke to them and heard from them the news of the events that took place during the reign of Decius. A letter was immediately sent to King Theodosius, the content of which was: (Let Your Majesty hasten and come and see the dazzling wonders that Allah Almighty has revealed during your auspicious era. The light of the promise of life has shone from the dust and the rays of the resurrection of the dead have shone from the darkness of the graves with the resurrection of the pure bodies of the saints.) When King Theodosius was informed of this news, while he was in Constantinople, he rose from the ashes in which he had spread, thanked Allah, and came, along with the bishops and elders of the people, to Ephesus, and they all ascended to the cave that contained the confessors on Mount Angelos and saw them. The king embraced them and sat with them on the dust.
Of course, the message is more concerned with the king than with the incident itself, and it does not feel that there is a major shock or loss of consciousness. This means that the message is supposed to talk about the details of the matter in a more heated way, but it is only a brief message. Is it possible that an incident of this magnitude occurred, so someone would send a message in this manner to a king?
■ Notice also… You do not find the tremendous astonishment of everyone and the king at the discovery of the cave boys. It is a very normal and normal topic. This event is supposed to shake the whole world and become a major historical turning point for all of humanity, but it is very normal in the story. The king hugs them and leaves. It is as if nothing had happened, and they celebrate their feast and the story is over…and that’s it.
I believe that the miracle of the Companions of the Cave, much greater than the miracle of Christ, will be a pivotal incident and event in human history until today. It will be the greatest sign and witness of my faith for all of humanity.
But unfortunately …………. it does not have a clear witness to this day, and there is no clear landmark for them, or a clear shrine for them, or a clear building for them, or a clear church next to them, or an ancient established culture that preserves the story and Place .
■ Syriac sources specify the number of the Companions of the Cave as seven young men, the period of sleep of the People of the Cave as 200 years, and their location in the city of Ephesus on Mount Ankilos.